Will Brighton's crazed knifeman kill before he's caught?

Police fear he might and there is now a squad of 26 officers on the streets trying to stop him.

They insist they are not scaremongering. Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Moore, heading the inquiry, said: "We have a duty to warn people."

The knifeman has struck ten times, the last time yesterday morning when he raped a 26-year-old hotel receptionist at knife point.

In the nine other assaults, one man was stabbed in the back and slashed across the face and eight women were either robbed or abducted.

They all managed to escape, either by struggling or when passers-by intervened.

If the same man is responsible for all the attacks, he has moved up the crime ladder and police are worried he may take the next step - to murder.

Police say he is dangerous and should not be approached. Anyone spotting a suspect should dial 999 immediately.

Mr Moore put it bluntly: "Women should not walk alone after dusk in the city centre."

He stressed there was no concrete evidence connecting all ten attacks, but descriptions of offenders were similar, as was the method of attack in all the cases.

The attacker strikes after dark, usually in poorly-lit streets, mainly in the centre of Brighton, although one attack occurred in Hove.

He uses a knife and threatens to kill victims, and he is variously described as Asian, Indian, Mediterranean or of mixed race.

In his latest attack yesterday morning, the 26-year-old receptionist, from Australia, was returning after an evening at the Casablanca jazz club in Middle Street, Brighton.

She was entering the rear of the Cecil House Hotel in King's Road, Brighton, at 2.12am when she was grabbed from behind.

Her attacker held a knife to her throat and forced her to cross the street to a yard in Queensbury Mews.

Police said she was subjected to a "horrendous" sexual assault before the attacker fled.

The rapist was 24 to 30, up to 5ft 8in tall, of mixed race with short dark hair and possibly facial hair. He wore a blue shirt.

Mr Moore is also leading Operation Tank, the investigation into at least nine attacks, mainly on women, in Brighton and Hove since October 30.

Queensbury Mews, where yesterday's rape happened, was the scene of another attack on December 11.